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You are here: Birth >> Baby >> Baby's growth and development >> Dummies, advantages & disadvantages - things to consider

Dummies, advantages & disadvantages - things to consider

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Dummies, advantages & disadvantages - things to consider

Advantages
Disadvantages
Things to consider

Advantages of a dummy can include:

	Satisfying and soothing the sucking urge between bottle feeds.
	Calming and soothing the sucking urge for premature babies who are not well enough to drink milk.
	Satisfying and soothing the sucking urge, instead of being constantly on the breast.
	Possibly helping to settle and soothe your baby during periods of being unsettled and fussy.
	Knowing that one day you can throw a dummy away, when you want your child to stop using one.

Disadvantages of a dummy can include:

	Your baby never accepting a dummy, making it not an option.
	Interfering with establishing breastfeeding, if introduced too early.
	Possibly interfering with learning to fall asleep by themselves, because your baby associates the dummy with falling asleep. (There generally comes a point where parents will need to teach their baby to fall asleep without the use of a dummy.)
	Waking to have the dummy replaced frequently, when your baby enters each wakeful phase during their sleep cycle (possibly every 1 to 2 hours).
	The baby not being able to regulate how often and how long they use a dummy, compared to their own thumb.
	Having extra expense, washing and sterilising with dummies, extra stress if you lose it!
	Other people may not like the look of a dummy and may receive negative comments from other people.
	Possibly increasing the incidence of thrush in the baby's mouth and/or the mother's nipples (if breastfeeding), and causing repeated outbreaks.
	Possibly causing skin irritations around your baby's mouth area, from saliva pooling between the shield and the mouth.
	Possibly leading to having a toddler with a dummy in their mouth much of the time.

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